ETF Exchange (ETFX) is Granted Distributing Fund Status for all of its 3rd Generation ETFs

08/03/10

The ETF Exchange has been granted distributing fund status by HM Revenue & Customs for the accounting period 15 July 2008 to 30 June 2009. The status has been granted to all 21 ETFs on the ETF Exchange. The ETF Exchange is the world’s first 3rd generation ETF platform which is supported by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Citi, and Rabobank International who are participants on the platform.

Distribution fund status means that the tax on any gains by UK tax residents will be treated as a capital gain rather than income. This could make a huge difference for higher rate tax payers as the current rate of capital gains tax is 18% versus a 40% income tax rate which will increase to 50% from 6 April 2010 onwards.

Distributing fund status is also advantageous for UK authorised investment funds and investment trusts as they will be exempt from tax on any chargeable gain. In addition non UK investment funds who themselves seek distributor status (or are reporting funds) will not need to distribute/report any gain.

Mark Weeks, CEO of the ETFX Exchange commented: “This is another step forward in providing UK investors a tax efficient way to gain exposure to a unique range of real asset and tactical asset allocation ETFs".

The ETF Exchange 3rd generation ETFs awarded distributing fund status:

ETFX WNA Global Nuclear Energy Fund
ETFX Janney Global Water Fund
ETFX S-Net ITG Global Agri Business Fund
ETFX DAXglobal Coal Mining Fund*
ETFX DAXglobal Gold Mining Fund*
ETFX DAXglobal Steel Fund*
ETFX DAXglobal Shipping Fund*
ETFX Russell 1000 US Large Cap Fund
ETFX Russell 2000 US Small Cap Fund
ETFX DAXglobal Alternative Energy Fund
ETFX Dow Jones STOXX 600 Basic Resources Fund
ETFX Dow Jones STOXX 600 Oil & Gas Fund
ETFX Dow Jones STOXX 600 Utilities Fund
ETFX FTSE® 100 Leveraged (2x) Fund
ETFX FTSE® 100 Super Short Strategy (2x) Fund
ETFX Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Leveraged (2x) Fund
ETFX Dow Jones EURO STOXX 50 Double Short (2x) Fund
ETFX CAC 40 2x Long Fund
ETFX CAC 40 2x Short Fund
ETFX DAX® 2x Long Fund
ETFX DAX® 2x Short Fund
* Please note that at the end of the accounting period these funds tracked Russell Global indices which were changed to DAXgloblal indices on 13 January 2010 at which point the ETFs names were changed

For further information, please contact:

Nicolas Rajner
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7448 4330
Email: nicolas.rajner@etfsecurities.com

Notes to Editors:

BofA Merrill Lynch

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which is the marketing name for the global banking and global markets business of Bank of America Corporation, is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. With offices in more than 40 countries and territories, the combined company serves corporate and institutional clients in 150 countries worldwide. Our equity markets professionals provide a full range of equity and equity-linked sales and trading services, including sophisticated portfolio analytics and electronic trading.

Barclays Capital

Barclays Capital is the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC. With a distinctive business model, Barclays Capital provides large corporate, government and institutional clients with a comprehensive set of solutions to their strategic advisory, financing and risk management needs. Barclays Capital has offices around the world, employs over 20,000 people and has the global reach, advisory services and distribution power to meet the needs of issuers and investors worldwide. For further information about Barclays Capital, please visit our website: www.barclayscapital.com.

Citi

Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com

Rabobank Group

Rabobank Group is a Netherlands based, international financial services provider operating on the basis of cooperative principles with a predominant focus on providing allfinanz services in the domestic market. Internationally the Group’s focus is on food and agriculture. In line with its cooperative roots, Rabobank Group is a cooperative bank, comprised of independent local Rabobanks, plus their central organisation Rabobank Nederland and its (international) subsidiaries. The organisation has more than 60,000 employees worldwide and operates in 46 countries.

Rabobank Group has the highest credit rating, Triple A, awarded by international rating agencies including Standard & Poor's and Moody’s. In terms of Tier I capital, the organisation is among the top 25 largest financial institutions in the world. Total assets amount to EUR 615 billion and a net profit to EUR 1.3 billion in the first half of 2009.

Internationally, the Rabobank Group operates specialized entities including De Lage Landen (leasing and vendor financing), Robeco Group (asset management), Rabo Real Estate Group (real estate management) and Sarasin (private banking).

For more information about the Rabobank Group go to www.rabobank.com.

ETF Securities

ETF Securities is a provider of Exchange Traded Commodities (Commodity ETCs), Exchange Traded Currencies (Currency ETCs) and 3rd generation Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). The management of ETF Securities pioneered the development of ETCs, with the world's first listing of an ETC, Gold Bullion Securities in Australia and London in 2003, and then the world's first ETC platform which was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in September 2006.

ETFS Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) provide investors with a wide variety of investment strategies, with ETPs offering exposure to resource equities, physical, long, forward, leveraged and short exposure to all commodity sectors and G10 Currencies.

ETPs are simple to access as they are traded in up to five currencies (EUR, USD, GBP, AUD and JPY) and listed on up to nine major exchanges globally including the London Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, NYSE-Euronext Paris, NYSE-Euronext Amsterdam, Deutsche Börse, Borsa Italiana, the Australian Securities Exchange and the Irish Stock Exchange.

To learn more about ETF Securities go to: www.etfsecurities.com

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This press release has been issued by ETF Securities Limited (ETFS), which is regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission, for journalists in the United Kingdom. ETF Exchange (Europe) Limited is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of ETFS.

This press release appears as a matter of record only and does not constitute an offer to sell or an invitation to purchase any securities.

None of the index providers of the relevant ETFs referred to herein nor their licensors make any warranty or representation whatsoever either as to the results obtained from use of the relevant indices and/or the figures at which such indices stand at any particular day or otherwise. None of the index providers shall be liable to any person for any errors or significant delays in the relevant indices nor shall be under any obligation to advise any person of any error or significant delay therein.

None of, BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays Capital, Citi, or Rabobank International accept any responsibility or liability for the content of this press communication.